Iphone SIM Unlock Guide

When the devices are programmed at the factory, the SIM Lock is activated by the manufacturer, upon the request of the carrier who sells the device. SIM locked devices are programmed to work with specific providers only and when other providers' SIM cards inserted, device checks whether the SIM card belongs to authorized provider. If an unauthorized carrier's SIM is used, your Iphone will display "SIM Not Supported" or "SIM Invalid" message. This informs you that other Carriers' SIM cards will not work with the device as long as this lock is not removed.

Many Carriers offer various promotions and discounts to make their services more attractive and to encourage mobile users to use their services. These may be the discounts they offer for phones, or may be mobile plans or discounted mobile tariffs.
In order to guarantee that they can redeem these discounts, they want their devices are used with their own services, so they aim to keep users on their network by activating the SIM Lock for certain periods of time.
This is not the only reason. Losing phones in shops or during shipping is also a problem for them. In order to prevent this, they aim to make these phones useless by locking them to their network when necessary.
The above reasons may be useful for Carriers, and it is possible to qualify some of them, but this may put people who make their payments on time or who buy second-hand phones, in a difficult situation.

The main advantage for users is getting a discount phone. SIM Locked phones are usually sold cheaper than others or offered with more affordable tariff plans.

If you don't want to change your carrier, it won't be an issue as long as you use their services.

However, if you are not satisfied with your carrier and want to switch to another one and use other companies' services, SIM Lock will prevent it.

If you want to sell your phone as second hand and if the buyer can not remove the lock, they will not be able to use other Carriers' SIM cards and services.

When you travel to another country and want to use a local prepaid SIM card instead of using expensive roaming plans, SIM Lock will not allow this.

SIM lock can be removed from almost any phone. SIM lock removal is easy for most Iphones. Some models may require some effort, but it is still possible to unlock them. Most Iphones on the market can be unlocked by Carrier or Manufacturer Device Database Update using phone's IMEI or Serial number.

The SIM lock status updated and unlocking is completed by updating the Device Information Databases through data providers who can have access these databases.

Database Update: Apple devices wil not ask for the SIM Unlock Code, Iphones and Ipads keep their SIM lock information in their online databases and usually the phone is unlocked by the update made in these databases. When another Carrier's SIM card is inserted into an Iphone, it connects to device database over the Internet and checks the SIM lock information. To unlock the device, the remote database is updated and the SIM lock status is changed to unlocked. After the device connects to the database and confirms that the phone has been unlocked, it updates the phone's local memory to unlocked.

Unlock Code: Iphones can't be unlocked using unlock codes because Apple devices will not ask for SIM unlock code when another Carriers' SIMs used.

Note: Your Iphone may ask for a passcode or user code to unlock the screen, but this is not a SIM unlock code and has nothing to do with the device's SIM lock. We have provided information about the different locks in the technical information section of this article.

Unlock Software: It is not possible to remove SIM locks of Iphones with software, because Iphones does not store SIM lock information in device's memory. SIM lock status must be updated in Carrier or manufacturer device database using device's IMEI (Serial number).

Note: Iphone software on the market can only remove passcode and user locks and these are not SIM Network lock.

You can request an unlock from the company that sold the phone. If you meet the company's unlock eligibility requirements, they can unlock your phone remotely.

However, since the unlock conditions will vary depending on the carrier, you should first check the unlock eligibility conditions on your carrier's website.

If your carrier refuses to unlock your phone or if you don't meet their unlock eligibility requirements, you can use our Apple Iphone Unlock Service

Carriers have different unlock policies. Some Carriers can unlock phones under certain conditions, and you must meet these conditions. Each carrier has different conditions for Unlock Eligibility and they will not unlock unless you meet these conditions. E.g.;
- If you bought your phone with a mobile contract plan, they won't unlock before the contract expires.
- If you have not completed the payment of your phone and plan, or if you have unpaid bills, they will not unlock without paying all your bills.
- They offer the condition of being a customer for a certain period of time in the plan you bought the phone (some companies require being of active customer for at least 1 year), they do not unlock the phone before the period specified in the Contract expires.

-They may not able to unlock due to their technical problems. Their service may not work if the phone has software (firmware) issues.

- Carriers can request the information of the person who bought the phone or the account where the phone is registered. If you bought a used phone from Ebay, Amazon, Bestbuy or any other platform, you may not be able to know the original account holder's information, in which case carriers will not unlock phone.

Manufacturers do not unlock phones for end users. They activate the SIM Lock at the request of the carriers and tell the end users to contact the company who sold the device.

For detailed information, you can read Apple's message about SIM unlock

You can use third party unlock sites like us, Simunlock.com. Third party sites have some advantages;
- Third party sites specialize in unlocking and can check different database sources.
- Unlock Eligibility conditions are mostly not required.
- We can provide service much faster and in less time than Carrier and Providers.

The unlocking is a simple technical process. When device manufacturer activate the SIM Lock, they store this information on their device databases.

Manufacturers and Carriers (Service Providers) have device information databases for their mobile devices and SIM lock data is stored in these databases. When you try to use your Iphone with a different SIM, your Iphone will connect to these databases and checks for SIM lock status. if your Iphone is restricted (locked) to a specific network, it won't allow you to use other providers and you will get Sim Not Supported or Not Valid message on your Iphone. To unlock your Iphone, We update status in these databases and remove restriction via our data providers and your Iphone will confirm it and accept any SIM card from any compatible provider. Once you receive unlock confirmation, you only need to follow simple instructions to complete unlocking. You do not need any technical skill or knowledge. Usually connecting to the Internet via WI-Fi to confirm 'SIM Lock Removal' is enough to complete unlocking.

Apple devices can not be unlocked with unlock code because Iphones and Ipads store SIM lock information in online databases, so carrier or manufacturer database updating is required. But this can easily be done through a data provider, so Iphones are one of the easiest and hassle-free phones to unlock. We work with different data providers to unlock Iphones and we can easily unlock Apple models by updating through these providers.

Apple devices have many built-in security features; These include Screen lock, Face ID, Touch ID, Find My Iphone, Apple ID .etc

Passcode is used to unlock the screens of apple devices and allows local access (memory, menu, media, etc.) to the device. Passcode is optional and whether to activate or not is up to user preference.

When activated, it must be entered to unlock the screen and grants local access to the phone.

You may check apple page for detailed information. Apple built in security features

Passcode is not a SIM unlock code and only unlocks the screen and grants local access to the phone. Passcode can be activated or deactivated by the user from the device menu, and when activated, it is asked when you need to unlock the screen. Passcode can be asked on any SIM Locked or unlocked phone. When activated, you have to enter it even on phones without a SIM card, so it has nothing to do with the SIM lock.

Apple ID lock may be sometimes called Apple iCloud lock. You must create an Apple account (Apple ID) to be able o use your Apple device. Your device information is stored in this account and it will also store device settings , personal information, and data of apple services is also stored in your account.

If you got a second-hand or gift iPhone, you need to remove this Apple ID registered on the device before using your own Apple ID. If this ID does not belong to you or if you cannot access the Apple account on the device, you can visit our Apple ID lock Removal guide page for detailed information.

Unlocking your phone does not void the warranty. The warranty is provided by the manufacturer and the manufacturer's authorized services do not check whether the device is unlocked or not.
If your phone does not have any other technical faults caused by the user, unlocking does not affect the warranty of the phone, so you do not have to worry about the warranty because the unlocking process does not make any changes to the phone's software or hardware.

Unlocking Iphones are absolutely safe. Iphones are unlocked by remote database update on Carrier database and this also does not cause any change in the phone. Only the SIM lock status of the phone is updated as Unlocked in remote database and the process is completed. It is the safest method on the market.

Unlocking Iphones are usually an easy process. All you need to do is insert a different carrier's SIM and connect to the Internet via WI-Fi

Before starting to unlock, you should have a SIM from different carrier other than your phone is locked to;

For example if your phone is working with T-mobile, you can use a SIM from Verizon, AT&T, Digicel ..etc

- Insert your new SIM card into your phone

- Power on your Iphone

- You should get SIM not Supported or Not Valid message (message will vary depending on device model)

- Order a SIM unlock request

- After getting unlock completed message for your request, connect your device to Internet via WI-Fi.

- Device will automatically check remote database and confirms unlocked status.

- Your Iphone will update its local memory and will restart itself.

- After process is completed, you can use any SIM from any compatible provider.

If you encounter any problem, you can do a Master Factory Reset (Full Factory Reset) after backing up the data on your phone. Master Factory reset solves most of the problems that occur during unlocking.

If you have any questions or having any difficulties, please don't hesitate to contact us.